FEATURED NEWS

Prof Bond flanked on the right by DV-C (Admin) Prof Nduka and left by Dean, Faculty of

Social Sciences, Prof Alapiki and other Senior Academics and Principal Officers

Despite growing concern over the effects of global warming on the environment, the fight against the damaging consequences of climate change would continue to be a mirage as a result of the unwillingness of most world leaders to tackle the threat posed by human activities.

Professor Patrick Bond of the School of Built Environment and Development Studies, Kwazulu Natal University, Durban, South Africa, made the submission while delivering a thought-provoking lecture at the resumed Faculty of Social Sciences Roundtable, held last Friday at the EbitimiBanigo Auditorium.

Professor Bond, whose lecture was titled: “Climate Change and Politics of Climate Justice”, noted the efficacy of non-violent approach for the protection of the environment adopted by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Satyarah of late Indian Leader, Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for the protection of the environment.

He said that the inability of the United Nations to deal with the problem is as a result of the lip-service being paid by world leaders to stem the damaging effects of climate change, pointing out that the situation is becoming more worrisome as the shift from petroleum to bio-mass is worsening climatic change due to increasing cases of deforestation, hunger and emergent diseases that threaten mankind.

The Lecturer also said that the application of bio-fuel, carbon capture and storage, geo-engineering, as well as the emergence of the BRICS countries, namely: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are false solutions to the problem, adding that the issue of climatic change could be identified from a resource curse perspective, in which citizens of countries endowed with abundant resources such as oil and gas live under the poverty line.

Professor Bond blamed the inordinate romance between Western and African leaders to the detriment of the people as a major factor impeding the global fight to remedy the environment, adding that Western leaders use African tyrants to tame the people and rob them of their resources, while multinational corporations are allowed to devastate the environment in their mindless search for profit.

He enumerated new measurement against GDP such as Carbon Footprint, Full Cost Accounting, Global Peace Index, and Index for Sustainable Economic Welfare, as major considerations in the fight against climate change.

On climatic justice, the Lecturer suggested that the best strategy to adopt was to leave the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole, the tar sand in the land and the fracking shale gas under the grass.

In his address, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Joseph Ajienka, who was represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Ethelbert Nduka, commended the Faculty for the bold initiative to return to the culture of intellectual vibrancy it was known for, hoping that the Roundtable would be sustained. He recalled that in the past, the Faculty used to be the cynosure of all attention where national and international issues were ventilated with aggressive intellectual vigour.

In his welcome remarks, Dean of the Faculty, Professor Henry Alapiki, said that the resumed Monthly Roundtable was in response to a challenge by the Vice-Chancellor to restore the once lively discourse sessions, which were used as an avenue for ventilating topical issues, describing it as a testimony that the University was in a position to proffer workable solutions to the myriad of problems that beset the society. He promised that the Faculty would return to the vibrancy it was known for in the golden days of Claude Ake, IkennaNzimiro, Julius Ihonvbere, William Ogionwo, InyangEteng, amongst others.

Earlier, Professor Bond had paid a courtesy visit on the Vice-Chancellor, where the authorities had expressed willingness to partner the University of Kwazulu Natal in areas of mutual interest.